


Moments Like This

by DalishFirefly (Regina_Lupus)



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-11
Updated: 2017-10-11
Packaged: 2019-01-16 04:11:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12335226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Regina_Lupus/pseuds/DalishFirefly
Summary: "I enjoy those nights when we stand guard together, talking to pass the time in those small hours. Well, I'll talk and you listen. Sometimes, I succumb and fall asleep, and wake to find you still watchful. And I know you're watching out for me."





	Moments Like This

**Author's Note:**

> 9/8/18: Due to some reworking, I’ve changed my Warden’s name. I wanted to correct it here and fix some errors.

Leliana hadn’t realized just how much she’d been monopolizing the conversation until she happened to glance over to her companion amid her impassioned speech. The elf was watching her with a soft look in her eyes, and a smile full of warmth on her face. It made Leliana’s heart flutter in her chest. The bard smiled back, a little sheepishly.

“I’ve talked your ear off again, haven’t I?” She kept her voice at an intimate volume. Enough for the mage to hear her, but not so loud that it might wake someone in the camp. “While we’re meant to be on watch, no less.”

She laughed softly, her eyes squinting a bit and her tapered ears dropping slightly from amusement. “It’s fine. I’ve been keeping an eye on things and listening.”

“I could be helping, no?” She bantered back, smiling. Brianne was so easy to be around. It lifted a weight off Leliana’s shoulders that she hadn’t even realized was there.

She cocked her head, short blonde hair slightly displaced by the action, and fixed Leliana with a look of feigned contemplation.

“True,” she mused, “but you could also keep telling me stories. I love to hear them.”

Leliana felt her cheeks heat like she was little more than a tenderfoot in romance; in love for the first time. She had to look away, to hopefully hide her blushing. A smile spread across her face.

“I can do both,” she promised, reaching up to self-consciously tuck a lock of hair behind her ear.

The soft giggle from the mage made her glance up. She too was looking away now, toward the tree line. In the darkness of the night, lit only by moonlight, Leliana thought she could make out the slight reddening of Brianne‘s cheeks, and, with an odd spike of delight, the tips of her ears.

Leliana had been... entertaining thoughts of her and the young mage for awhile at this point. She tried to ignore them at first, but quickly realized that would be impossible as she grew to know the young woman. So, now, she simply embraced them and held on to every little hint that they might be returned. She was hoping the Warden would come forward first, if she truly did feel the same, but she was trying to muster the courage to bring it up.

She realized then that they had lapsed into silence. Comfortable, companionable silence, but silence all the same. Leliana couldn’t help but laugh at herself. She quickly thought of another story to tell, and they continued like this for hours.

— —— —— —— —

Leliana almost jumped straight up when she realized she was laying down, but reality crept back to her mind to calm her before she launched herself into attack mode. Before opening her eyes, she took stock of the situation as she could.

She could tell she was laying in the grass. Not an ideal place for a nap but not overly uncomfortable. The absence of the sun’s warmth and the cheerful sound of night creatures indicated that it was still late. The most peculiar detail was that her head was pillowed against something soft and warm. Perplexed, she blinked her eyes open.

The first thing she noticed was that it was indeed still night out. The second thing was Brianne‘s silent, ever vigilant form above her. She hadn’t noticed Leliana was awake, so the rogue took the moment to observe her. She was clearly tired, head more heavy than normal based on the vague tilt of her chin. She had pushed her ring further up its finger, twisting it with her thumb to help herself stay awake. She realized then that her head was resting in Brianne‘s lap.

Leliana felt her heart squeeze. This had happened in the past. She would doze off without the intent to and the mage would stay awake and keep watch. Every time it happened, Leliana felt a mix of annoyance at herself and something... difficult to deal with for her Warden friend. It was these moments that she knew her pinning was much deeper than she could deny.

She shifted, drawing Brianne‘s attention as she sat up. “I’m sorry for-“ she started, as was typical of incidents like this. She was swiftly cut off.

“You don’t need to apologize. You know this, mon amie.”

There was no impatience in her voice from having to repeat herself, just the soft lilt that came with a smile. She looked over her shoulder, and sure enough the young elf was smiling. She couldn’t not return the look.

“You’re optimism is so refreshing,” she blurted out as as she rearranged herself, sitting side to side with the mage.

Her hand ‘accidentally’ brushed against the one Brianne had placed on the ground. She didn’t acknowledge the gesture, both to Leliana’s dismay and relief.

“I take my victories where I can,” she said with a somewhat wistful tone. “If I didn’t, the world would have broken me long ago.”

Leliana’s smile turned a little sad as Brianne looked off toward the stars. The mage was an open book to anyone who asked, but one thing she never spoke of at length was her past. The bard knew she’d been born into an Alienage but had been relocated to the Circle at a young age. She knew that... something happened involving the blood mage Jowen, who had at least once been her friend. Greater details, the mage didn’t like to discuss.

And yet, Leliana just had to try again.

“What happened?” She asked gently, knowing the question needed no elaboration. She knew Brianne would not be mad at her for asking, but she didn’t want to hurt the young woman either. If she didn’t talk about these things, it was likely for a reason.

The smile faded, replaced with a contemplative look as her grey eyes met Leliana’s blue. There was something so... ancient about her in that moment. Leliana was five years her senior, and Brianne sported no marks of aging, but her eyes seemed like they had seen several lifetimes. Leliana supposed, in a way, she had.

After in immeasurable moment, the elf broke eye contact and looked back up to the stars. When she spoke, her voice was far away as she lost herself in her memories. “My father... He turned me in when my magic manifested, when I was ten. He was, probably still is, afraid of magic. I was in the Circle for maybe a week, and I received news that my mother passed away and my sister had all but vanished. I can only guess what happened to her, at such a young age.“

Leliana felt the distinct pull and twist of pain in her chest. Brianne spoke carefully, trying to disguise the lingering pain. However, Leliana knew this disguise was not for her sake. She also knew this was not the full story, but it didn’t matter. She had chosen to confide something that clearly pained her, and Leliana would be worthy of that.

Without much forethought, she clasped their party leader’s hand in her own and intertwined their fingers. She felt her heart clench when Brianne returned the gesture without pause.

“That’s horrible,” Leliana said softly. “He just... gave you away? Just like that?”

“People do strange things when they’re afraid,” she said softly, without offense. “I won’t lie and say I haven’t occasionally wished that I had never been born a mage, but it’s as much apart of me as anything else I am anymore. Without it, I wouldn’t be me. Without it, I probably wouldn’t be here.”

She punctuated her words with a light squeeze of Leliana’s hand. When there gazes locked again, Leliana might as well have been hypnotized.

“It still hurts,” she said softly, eyes looking ancient once more. “The loss of my family will always stick with me. It’s a pain one doesn’t forget, but it’s a pain I’ve learned to live with. I don’t regret the path my life has been put on. I will carry my happier memories of them all with me no matter where I go. I’m free now, I have a purpose and I have an amazing friend that can tell me all the stories of places I never got to see. That’s more than I could have ever asked for, and more than I ever thought I could get.”

The little speech touched her heart and nearly brought tears to her eyes; she had to discreetly blink them away.

Brianne saw, as she always did, and smiled once more. She leaned the little ways over to her and placed a light kiss on Leliana’s cheek before leaning away once more. Her cheek burned where the cool, soft lips had brushed over it. The bard had to hold herself back from leaning in and stealing a proper kiss.

The rest of their shift passed in companionable silence, hands still clasped between them and shoulders touching. Leliana knew that night that she was already deeply and completely in love.


End file.
